Rising stars Victoria Mboko and Alex Eala confirmed for WTA 500 event
Exciting youngsters Victoria Mboko and Alex Eala will both make their debuts at the Abu Dhabi Open in 2026 with defending champion Belinda Bencic also set to return to the United Arab Emirates.
The trio of Bencic, Mboko and Eala all enjoyed outstanding seasons on the WTA Tour in 2025 as the Swiss received the Comeback Player of the Year award after she finished the year at No 11 following her return to top-level tennis after maternity leave.
The 2021 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist started the year at No 487 after she missed most of the 2024 campaign on the back of giving birth to her first child, a daughter named Bella last April.
But she won the Abu Dhabi Open in February and the Pan Pacific Open in October while she also reached the semi-final at Wimbledon to surge up the WTA Rankings.
Bencic will look to win a third title in the UAE as she also lifted the trophy in 2023.
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Mboko and Eala, meanwhile, enjoyed breakthrough seasons in 2025 and will feature in the main draw of the WTA 500 for the first time in their careers in 2026.
A year ago, both were still competing on the lower levels.
The 19-year-old Mboko took the tennis world by storm when she won the Canadian Open as a wildcard, beating Grand Slam winners Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina en route to reaching her maiden top-level final.
In the showpiece match, the then 18-year-old came from a set down to defeat former world No 1 and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.
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Mboko, who finished 2024 at No 350 in the rankings, cracked the top 30 on the back of her WTA 1000 title run and she also won the Hong Kong Open to finish the year at No 18, claiming the 2025 Newcomer of the Year Award.
“Breaking into the top 20 has been an incredible journey, and I’m really excited to be making my debut in Abu Dhabi,” Mboko said about her impending debut.
“I’ve heard amazing things about the tournament, the facilities and the fans, and I’m looking forward to testing myself against such a strong field at the start of the season.”
Fellow young gun Eala – who was also nominated for the Newcomer of the Year gong – stole the show at the Miami Open as she stunned Jeļena Ostapenko, Madison Keys, and Iga Swiatek to reach the semi-final of the WTA 1000 event before losing against Jessica Pegula.
She became the first Filipina to reach the top 100 of the WTA Rankings on the back of that result as she rose to No 75.
Eala then reached her maiden WTA final at the Eastbourne International, losing against Maya Joint with the result earning her a new high of No 56.
She made more history at the US Open as she became the first Filipina player to win a Grand Slam singles match in the Open Era, beating Clara Tauson in the first round.
Eala made her top-50 debut in November and finished the year at No 53.
